ryans
As I am in urgent need for a new phone (my old lumia 930 barelly last 2-3 hours) I have been testing loads of phones during the last month. So far I can tell that I am affected by both screen and software. LTPS IPS screens are the best for me and if I use it with Android 5 - no eye strain. Android 6, 7 makes my eye strain but on LTPS IPS screens gives less strain and my eyes heals very fast 1-2 days afterwards. In comparison other non-LPS screens makes my eyes strain a lot and the healing period is 3-4 days. So I assume I have eliminated "bad screen" factor with LTPS IPS screens, thus leaving the only factor - Android. Though if the Android 5 is used, I can look at any screen.
My last test was with BQ AQUARIS X5 PLUS as suggested by one of the forum users. It came used and with Android 7 preinstalled. I unlocked and rooted the phone, installed Android 6.0.1 and installed cf.lumen. Even though the app makes difference, my eyes are still strained.
This is the list of the phone which I tested:
- LUMIA 930 (Windows phone 8 and 10) - My current phone for ~4 years. Absoluitely no eye strain, very good screen. Unfortunately the battery is almost dead, the screen is shattered and it started to feel very sdlow, thus I need to change;
- MEIZU M1 METAL - (Android 5) My ex-work phone with LTPS IPS screen. Gives no eye strain, but unfortunately the micrphone stopped working and I had
- iPhone 8 (iOs 10 and 11) - absolutely worst phone ever for my eyes. I healed for 1-2 weeks, it gives me headaches, eye strain, blurry eyes, nausea, dizzynes, I could not work for a couple of days.
- Oneplus 3t (Android 6) - Better than iPhone, but still bad for the eyes. Eye strain, irritation, headaches;
- XPERIA XZ (Android 6) - Better than the first ones, but still gives eye strain after 10-20 minutes, which get worse if the phone is used for longer periods;
- HUAWEI MATE 10 LITE (Android 7) - Comparable to XPERIA XZ, i tested for the whole day;
- SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 (not sure which android, I think 5) - I had this phone for 2 weeks and it gave no eye strain. It was my work phone. The screen was shattered and the phone lagged a lot, so they changed to Meizu.
- BQ AQUARIS X5 PLUS - (Android 6.0.1 and 7) the screen is so much better than any other phones which I tested, but it still gives eye strain after using it for 20-30 minutes. The phone was rooted and I tried cf.lumen.
- HUAWEI P10 LITE (Android 7) - It has LTPS IPS screen. I had a chance to test it for 40 minutes and I can say it gives similar eye strain to BQ AQUARIS, better than any other phone, but still considerable strain;
- Samsung galaxy note 8 - (not sure if android 7 or 8) the phopne gives me eye strain but I could compare the strain with LTPS IPS screens. They also have a very good return policy - you can buy galaxy note, even remove the covers, use it for 2 weeks and return if you didn't like it.
As I am desperate I think I will settle down with some 2015's flagman with Android 5 (maybe will buy 2 of the phones) and will continue search for a modern phone. What I am going to try next is LG G4 (unfortunately has no fingerprint scanner) and if that does not work Huawei Honor 7 is the next one. As for the Samsung Galaxy s9 - I'm not sure if going to test it. Maybe I will wait for galaxy note 9...
Even though this "fight" takes a lot of time, I remain positive and look at the birght side. I found out a lot of good dealers in my country who allows returning phones during 14 days period. I also shipped phones from UK and Germany with 30 days "no questions asked" return policies. So at least I can test numerous devices without paying anything or just few Euros for the shipping. Also as I am so close to choosing the right phone I started looking at older laptops.
Back to late 2014 and early 2015 I worked at the bank and they gave me Lenovo T440s laptop with TN screen. Even though everyone says the screen is bad, it was very very good for my eyes. Back then I did not know I have the problem, but if the screen was bad it would have caused me the eye. So I found a barelly used X1 carbon gen 3 from year 2015 with TN screen. It comes with Windows 10. Also Lenovo laptops tend to be very long lasting so a 3 year old laptop should not be a problem. I think Windows 10 does not cause me eye strain as I had three older laptops (Acer 5650g, Samsung ativ book 9) with windows 10 anniversary edition and "good screens" and I had absolutely no eye strain. I checked the intel driver on one of them - it was from year 2016. I will let you know my findings about this phone in other post.